Poisson coulé

Chapitre 22

Miller's expression suddenly froze, a surge of intense anger welling up in his eyes. He raised his gun and roared, "It's those damned 'Ghost Butterflies' again!"

Amidst the flowers, several bright yellow flames danced, occasionally landing on one of the 'Svaha' flowers, appearing both terrifying and eerie in this cemetery.

"Stop!" Qin Wen quickly grabbed his hand and said urgently, "The Ghost Butterflies are nocturnal and like to live in groups. There are so many 'Wandering Souls' here, the number of Ghost Butterflies must be countless. Your gunshot will attract them all out!"

“I know a way to deal with them,” Caesar suddenly spoke, shocking everyone present. Qin Wen finally stopped glancing at him sideways. “What way?”

“Crush the calyx of the ‘Wandering in the Saha World’ flower, mix it with the water of the River of Oblivion, and then wipe your whole body with it. The Ghost Butterflies will absolutely not dare to approach you.” Caesar looked at the expression on her face with satisfaction, feeling very accomplished. Qin Wen looked on in astonishment: “How did you know?”

“Do you remember those murals in the Buddhist temple depicting the customs of the Kshatriya religion and the Mano people? One of them depicts the Volgili people worshipping their ancestors. To avoid being bitten by the Ghost Butterflies, they use this folk remedy to bathe naked by the River of Oblivion.” Caesar pretended to be disappointed, shaking his head as he said, “What a pity, your observation skills are too poor; you didn’t even see that.”

Looking at his smug face, Qin Wen really wanted to punch him in the face: "Mr. Caesar is indeed exceptionally talented, with eyes that see in all directions and ears that hear in all directions. In that case, the glorious and arduous task of removing 'the veil of suffering' is entrusted to you."

Caesar's lips twitched twice. This woman was truly vindictive. He had to seriously consider whether he should like her. Her personality was terrible, and she had none of the gentleness and grace a lady should have.

Seeing the two of them staring at each other, seemingly locked in a battle of wits, Situ Xiang sighed and said, "I'll go instead."

“I’ll join you.” Miller put Marcie down. “That little sister named Yin once said that these flowers could cure my poison, and that my life was in danger.”

Situ Xiang smiled and did not object. The two walked down the hillside. The air was filled with a sweet and pungent fragrance. They dared not venture deeper into the flower bushes, but only picked a few handfuls of flowers. Just as they were about to return, they discovered that Caesar and Qin Wen were gone, and the hillside was empty.

The two were shocked and ran up the hillside. Their faces turned even paler. On the other side of the hillside was another blood-red 'Saha Bhadra' garden, with rows of pagodas and tombs exactly the same as on this side!

"Calm down!" Situ Xiang said with a gloomy face. "There must be some reason for this. Perhaps..." He looked down at the beautiful flower in his hand, "Perhaps we have already fallen into the world of desires and 'wandering in the Saha world'."

Miller was about to say something when he heard a clear voice call out, "Dad!"

He trembled, turned around, and stared in disbelief at the two women waving at him from the flower bushes. Both were blonde, blue-eyed beauties, one of whom was only eight or nine years old.

“Aina, Sophie.” Miller’s voice trembled slightly. These were his wife and daughter, the people he loved most in his life. He would have even given up his own life for them. But three years ago, they both died in a terrorist attack. The plane they were on was bombed and never reached its destination.

At that time, he was still on the battlefield in the Middle East when he received the news. He felt as if his soul had been stolen away. He felt like he was dead after losing them.

Yes, his heart had already died three years ago.

"Daddy!" Sophie called out, her smile bright, "Daddy, come quick!"

"Sophie!" Tears finally welled up in the tough man's eyes. He rushed down from the flower bushes, picked up his beloved daughter, and spun her around happily. "Sophie, I never thought we would meet again."

"Daddy, come with us," Sophie said sweetly, kissing her father's cheek. "That way we can be together forever."

“Yes, Miller.” Aina smiled gently and kissed his lips. “Come to the world we live in, and the three of us can be reunited. I made your favorite New Orleans chicken wings and steak. We haven’t had a proper meal together in all these years.”

Miller hugged his wife and daughter tightly and said lovingly, "Of course, of course I will live with you, even in hell, I would be willing."

“Let’s go then.” Aina and Sophie each took one of his hands and walked deeper into the garden. Miller smiled happily and obediently followed them. He had just taken a step when he felt a cold wind rush from behind. He lost all willpower and didn’t know how to resist. A fist slammed into his chin. He groaned and flew up, landing on the hard rocky ground, feeling as if all the bones in his body had been broken.

He struggled to get up from the ground, his vision blurred, but he could vaguely see several shadows moving in front of him.

"Who...who are you?" Before he could finish speaking, another loud slap landed on his face. He heard a familiar female voice say, "What, still not awake? I'll keep hitting you!" Then came two more slaps. Miller felt a burning pain on his cheeks. He struggled to open his eyes, and his vision gradually cleared. Qin Wen was grabbing his collar, her clenched fist about to fall again.

He caught the fist and shouted angrily, "What are you doing?"

"Shouldn't you thank him properly?" Caesar said, arms crossed. "If it weren't for her, you would already be Dead Man's Vine's meal."

Miller froze, seeing before him the surging River of Oblivion, with heads half-exposed on its surface. A chill ran down his spine and spread throughout his body. So, he had almost fallen into the River of Oblivion?

What's going on?

“It must be a hallucination caused by the fragrance of the ‘Wandering in the Saha World’ flowers. You just picked the flowers, and it was like you were bewitched by something, walking straight into the river, unresponsive no matter how much we called you. I had no choice but to resort to ‘extraordinary means’.” Qin Wen said matter-of-factly, picking up a fallen red flower from the ground. “Caesar and I weren’t affected by the fragrance. It seems that only inhaling an excessive amount of fragrance can cause hallucinations. By the way,” she looked at Situ Xiang, “what kind of hallucination did you see? I felt that there was both love and hate in your eyes.”

Situ Xiang's expression changed: "It's none of your business."

Qin Wen shrugged indifferently: "Whether you tell or not is up to you. Anyway, we've got the flowers for the antidote. Go fetch water, Caesar. The glorious and arduous task of making the antidote is now yours."

"It is my honor to serve such a beautiful lady." Caesar gave a perfunctory bow, then stared at the river, stunned. What was he going to use to fetch water?

Finally, it was Situ Xiang and Miller who came into play. They built a circular dike along the riverbank with stones, containing some of the water, and then scattered flower petals inside. Caesar was dumbfounded; his experience in wilderness survival was extremely limited, having only robbed graves a few times before.

Despite their nausea, the group took a petal bath in the foul-smelling river water and finally stepped onto the sacred Buddhist cemetery. The 'Saha-lily' flowers were in full bloom, and an eerie fragrance filled the air, but the five of them did not hallucinate, as if the petal bath had worked.

After crossing another small hill, a vast plain stretched out before us, dotted with a forest of tombs composed of stupas. Red flowers bloomed even more profusely, and many bright yellow butterflies fluttered among them, creating a breathtakingly beautiful scene, much like the legendary Pure Land of Bliss.

"It's really beautiful. The Volgily people have great taste." Qin Wen walked in, but her foot seemed to bump into something. She looked down and her face immediately changed. She exclaimed, took two steps back, and fell to the ground.

Among the flowers, there was a skeleton lying on the ground, its whiteness like snow, contrasting with the surrounding red flowers, creating a strangely beautiful scene.

"How novel." Caesar finally found an opportunity to tease her, "You're actually afraid of corpses?"

“Don’t you think there’s something strange about these corpses?” Situ Xiang leaned closer to examine them carefully. “They are all face down, with their hands on either side of their heads and their knees on the ground, as if they are kneeling in worship.”

Qin Wen rolled her eyes at Caesar and awkwardly got up: "Situ, you're really something, no wonder you're a policeman."

"Hey, there's one over here too." Miller parted a clump of flowers and sure enough, there was another kneeling skeleton. Qin Wen suddenly stood up and looked around. On this plain, under the flowers, there were snow-white human bones everywhere!

A metallic glint flashed, and Qin Wen exclaimed in surprise, "What is this?" She removed a badge from the neck of a skeleton. It was a round piece of metal, engraved with a Buddha being entangled by a Salamander.

"It's the emblem of the Shalo cult!" Miller exclaimed. "Are all the people here Volgili?"

"So the missing Volgili people have all come here, but what exactly are they worshipping?" Miller was completely baffled; he truly couldn't understand the thoughts of these primitive religious followers.

Situ Xiang looked towards the horizon, raised his hand, pointed to something, and said, "Is that the tower they want to worship?"

At the end of his finger was a tower several times taller than the other pagodas. Qin Wen took out the sheepskin map, compared it, and said, "That's the Bloodwing Pagoda we're looking for, the one that contains Zhenyan's body and the Triple Treasure Box!"

"Bloodwings?" Miller sneered. "Wings? What wings?"

"That's strange. They should be worshipping at the stupa, but look, they're facing away from it!"

26. The Pagoda Illusion

Qin Wen stared intently at the towering pagoda, feeling as if something had struck her chest. Countless images flashed before her eyes: in these images, resentful red clouds drifted in from the horizon, enveloping the entire Mano Kingdom. As the red mist descended, people smelled an unusual fragrance, their faces becoming blank. Like walking corpses, they abandoned their work and orderly walked to the cemetery, kneeling before the tower together.

In that instant, a pair of blood-red wings sprouted from the back of the tower, blotting out the sky.

A hand landed on her shoulder, and she was startled. Turning around, she saw Caesar standing behind her. "What are you thinking about? You look like you're possessed?"

"You're the one who's possessed," Qin Wen said rudely, pushing his hand away. Situ Xiang asked, "Have you remembered something again?"

Qin Wen smiled and said, "You seem quite concerned?"

Situ Xiang didn't speak. Qin Wen narrowed her eyes slightly and carefully examined him: "Situ, don't blame me for being suspicious, but I always feel that you've become very strange since we entered this city."

"You're overthinking it." Situ Xiang's expression remained unchanged.

Qin Wen sneered: "Situ, I highly doubt what your purpose is in coming here this time?"

"What else could it be? Of course, it's to save you and Xiao Li." Situ Xiang's tone was calm. "You don't think I'm also tempted by that treasure, do you?"

"That's hard to say." Qin Wen stared coldly into his eyes, as if trying to see into his heart. "After all, that treasure is too precious. Any normal person might be tempted by its value."

Situ Xiang sneered: "Unfortunately, in my eyes, it is worthless."

Qin Wen took a deep breath, her expression turning serious. She bit her lower lip, her emotions a jumble of emotions. Caesar, consumed by jealousy, snapped, "How long do you intend to linger here? Don't forget, your friend is still in that transvestite's hands, and might already be..." He couldn't finish his sentence; the gazes of Qin Wen and Situ Xiang were enough to make him crumble into a honeycomb.

"Shut your mouth!" Qin Wen said through gritted teeth. "If you dare to say another word, I'll make you regret it!"

Caesar had to admit that the little girl's aura sometimes made him feel pressured.

“Situ, I hope you will take care of yourself.” She stared at him meaningfully, then resolutely walked towards the Bloodwing Pagoda. Even if it was hell, even if she had to face some past life memories she didn’t want to remember, she had to go for Xiao Li’s sake.

She had a premonition that perhaps once she left, she would never be able to return to the civilized world.

The five of them walked for a long time, and as the sun gradually set, they all felt something was wrong. How come they had walked for so long and were still so far from the Bloodwing Pagoda?

"Wait!" Situ Xiang, who was walking in front, raised his hand to stop us. "It seems we've entered a maze."

"A maze?" Qin Wen gasped. "You mean, these pagodas... are a maze?"

"It just looks similar." Situ Xiang instinctively reached for his gun at his waist, only to remember that he had already given it to Yin Li, the girl who liked to prick people with needles and could make many strange medicines. If she continued to learn from her grandfather, she would probably become a strange doctor like the one in the Japanese manga "Dr. Qin." Thinking of this, he couldn't help but chuckle softly. He had only chuckled twice when he saw Qin Wen looking at him suspiciously. She said somewhat awkwardly, "What?"

"It's nothing, I just wanted to show you this map." Qin Wen held up the parchment in front of him. "The survivor must have drawn this map with some secret in mind."

Situ Xiang took it and looked at it, then suddenly asked, "Are you hungry?"

The other three were stunned. They hadn't realized it until it was mentioned, and now they were starving. Situ Xiang smiled mysteriously and said, "Since you're all hungry, let's sit down and have a meal so we can study this properly."

Qin Wen took a big bite of the beef jerky, then clutched her cheek in pain. Caesar asked in surprise, "Are you alright?"

"What kind of beef is this? It's as hard as a rock!" She angrily threw the beef on the ground, where it landed right in the center of the parchment. Situ Xiang picked it up calmly, took a bite, and said, "Little girl, being picky about food is not a good habit."

“I think so too,” Caesar complained as he handed her the dark chocolate. “Try this, I made it myself.”

Qin Wen rolled her eyes, took the chocolate, and swallowed it in one gulp. Caesar quickly asked, "How does it taste?" She stretched her neck and finally managed to swallow the chocolate. "Uh... does this thing even have a taste?"

Caesar's lips twitched twice; he was certain this girl had absolutely no idea what romance was.

"Right, let's try pouring water on it." Qin Wen took Caesar's water jug and sprinkled it on the parchment. The four of them stared at it for a long time, but nothing happened. Qin Wen felt a little embarrassed: "How about we try burning it?"

“It can’t be that simple.” Situ Xiang immediately dismissed her idea. “That archaeologist’s ability to return alive is definitely not simple. The riddle he set up is not a child’s game.”

"Children's games?" Qin Wen was somewhat dissatisfied. She wasn't smart, but surely she wasn't that stupid?

“If the map is hidden inside this parchment, shouldn’t we determine the orientation on it?” Miller picked up the map and compared it with the surrounding buildings. “Look, doesn’t this tower look a lot like that one over there?”

Qin Wen leaned closer, took a careful look, and shook her head firmly: "It doesn't look like it. I think this one is more like it."

“No, this one looks more like it,” Caesar said, pointing to the pagoda at the bottom. Qin Wen rolled her eyes. “Then you must have something wrong with your eyes.”

“Your eyes are the problem!” Caesar retorted immediately.

“You’re all grown up now, don’t bicker like children.” Situ Xiang took the parchment with a blank expression. “The pagodas on them are almost all the same. Instead of comparing the similarities, compare the differences.”

The other three were stunned for a moment, then immediately thought of those blood-red wings.

“That tower has no wings, yet wings are painted on it. What do you think that means?” he continued.

“Two possibilities,” Caesar said. “First, it symbolizes that the soul of Garuda is contained within; second, this tower is not the same as that tower.”

"You mean, this tower isn't the winged pagoda in the painting?" Qin Wen exclaimed. "Impossible, this is the tallest tower here!"

Situ Xiang smiled mysteriously: "That makes sense. Then let's erase the differences."

"How do we apply it?" Qin Wen held the parchment to her chest like a mother wolf protecting her cubs. "Let me make it clear, this is something very important, you are not allowed to use a razor blade."

Situ Xiang chuckled, "Of course not." He bit his finger and smeared the blood on his wing. Qin Wen's facial muscles twitched twice. "That method is really stupid, it makes no sense at all."

The young policeman looked up and gave her a confident smile: "You should take a look first before you say anything."

All three people's eyes were focused on the parchment, then their pupils dilated rapidly, and their mouths opened wide enough to fit a chicken. Under everyone's watchful eyes, the blood was gradually absorbed by the parchment, and the blood-red wings disappeared. Almost simultaneously, below the stupa, an identical stupa gradually appeared, with its blood-red wings on its back being exceptionally conspicuous.

"There's a Buddhist pagoda beneath the tower!" Qin Wen exclaimed in surprise. "Could it be that the survivor was trying to tell us that the Buddhist pagoda isn't on the ground?"

"Does this have anything to do with the labyrinth?" Caesar interjected.

“I don’t know.” Situ Xiang said matter-of-factly, “Parchment has the property of absorbing blood, and after being smeared with blood, the drawing made with a special potion will disappear along with the blood. Therefore, in the Middle Ages, European nobles liked to use this potion to draw important drawings, so that even if they fell into the hands of the enemy, they could keep the secret with their own blood.”

Qin Wen pointed to the upside-down pagoda: "Then what's the principle behind this thing that suddenly appeared?"